METALLURGY OF THE COLCHIAN BRONZE CULTURE: A TYPOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF COPPER INGOTS (ACCORDING TO THE MATERIALS OF THE MARTVILI MUSEUM OF THE LOCAL LORE AND THE TSAGERI HISTORIC MUSEUM

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to suggest a classification of copper ingots, the main surviving product of the widespread copper smelting industry which has recently been shown to underpin the well known transitional late Bronze Age/early Iron Age culture of Colchis (western Georgia). This new study is based mainly on the many copper ingot fragments now in the collection of the Martvili Museum of the Local Lore and the Tsageri Historical Museum. This typological classification of the copper ingots from this region suggests that there were 6 differing forms and 3 main types of ingot although the variety of ingot forms seems to be similar across much of western Georgia. Characteristic types for both Lechkhumi and eastern Samegrelo are represented by both conical and rounded ingots so that some preliminary conclusions can be drawn about the shape of the crucibles in which the ingots were cast. This typological classification and its variations may suggest that we are dealing with different metallurgical foundries possibly representing two neighboring regions. The abundance of ingots found in Lechkhumi and Martvili indicates that this was an important region for copper smelting in the late Bronze/ early Iron Age transition period.